War of Naldere
The War of Naldere, called the Fifth Caliendorian-Quendrian War and the War of the Young Emperor and the Old King, was a conflict between the Kingdom of Quendrian and the Empire of Caliendor. It lasted for two years and culminated in very little results. The Summer Plague ran concurrently with this war, attributing to deaths on both sides. The war earned its nickname, the War of the Young Emperor and the Old King, because Emperor Astrigeth II was a young man at the time of the war, and King Raegon was reaching the end of his reign, dying a year after the war's end. Causes Following the death of his father, the Emperor Astrigeth in 1042 Age of the Sun, his son Astrigeth II was crowned his successor. In order to please the people and detract his sceptics, Astrigeth declared war on the Kingdom of Quendrian. Course of the war War in Gäladian As part of his "invasion", Astrigeth assembled his armies at Verislay, with the nobles backing him. A force of 100,000, a third of the Caliendorian's army, crossed the Raliss Mountains through the Muiran Pass, and attacked the city of Laynstor, the seat of House Asterlos. Lord Kierain Mäldrinn rode to relieve the city with his bannermen. A fierce battle was fought by the attacking troops against the besieging Caliendorians, who were beleaguered by Mäldrinn's army at the walls, while Lord Vaeman Asterlos defended the walls. The siege was lifted by the combined Gälad effort, and the Caliendorians retreated to Muiran, regrouping with the greater force. They pushed on to Thain's Watch, where they clashed with Talbhon soldiers, who despite being greatly outnumbered fought furiously. However, Lord Tawyon Talbhon was slain, and the fortress taken over by the Caliendorian army, with Baron Guisen, ruler of Redfyre Keep, instilled as custodian, while the rest of the 300,000 strong army pushed forward, crossing the Torlen, and besieging Callandir. The King, Raegon, was finally able to gather his armies, and cross into Gäladian, bolstering his force of thirty thousand men with Farryhold bannermen from Wheldron. Lord Willym Wyronn defended the walls of Callandir fiercely, but the Caliendorians were unrelenting. After fourteen days of bloody fighting, the sige was lifted by the King's timely arrival at Callandir. A resulting battle between the greater portion of the two nation's armies culminated in many casualties, including the King's cousin, a squire of House Veytras. The king and the emperor supposedly fought face to face, and Raegon, fierce even in his older age, sustained a spear injury from the young invader. The battle was ended when Astrigeth recalled his men, setting them toward the embankments of the Torlen north of Callandir. Following the exit of the Caliendorian army, Lord Tarwhyn Talbhon, who had succeeded his father after his death at Thain's Watch, retook the castle with the aid of House Farryhold and Wyronn, ousting Baron Guisen and his token force of ten thousand men, who returned to Caliendor, defeated. War in Säido Damöthren Following his defeat in Gäladian, the Emperor Astrigeth II pushed his 300,000 strong army toward the Torlen river, on the border with Säido Damöthren. There, his armies camped on the embankments, and built ships out of the woods nearby, so that they could traverse the river into Säido Damöthren and take the region by surprise. King Raegon, recovering in Callandir after lifting the siege, marshalled his army and followed the Caliendorians north, but all they were met with was the remnants of their encampment. The Emperor crossed the river into Säido Damöthren, raiding Arabela's farmlands allow the shore, and disembarking with his three hundred thousand strong near the Eastern Bridge, which they promptly captured and crossed, marching on Aral Dovali. The Siege of Aral Dovali commenced shortly thereafter. The cowardly lord Aëros Aralen infamously hid in his keep as the Emperor's armies battered the city's walls, and only came out to fight with the arrival of his cousin Lord of the Säidone Jaöshin Aralen and his Blackstone and Varthyr allies. Lord Kharos Varthyr slew General Ilrius Targethon during the siege, robbing the Caliendorians of one of their finest generals. The Caliendorians retreated from Aral Dovali, and retreated back into Gäladian, where they sacked the village of Korinal, resulting in the death of the paltry garrison there. Latter war Following their defeat at Aral Dovali, the Caliendorians regrouped in Gäladian after raiding the village of Korinal. They had already lost at least a quarter of their troops in the earlier fighting, and planned a direct march on Eravel Nethris. They crossed into the Heartlands and besieged Sae Serina. Daemon Castarial, Commander of the King's Sword and a scion of House Castarial, rallied his bannermen to defend the city. Lead by General Alronn Geralos, the Caliendorians broke through the fortifications and sacked the keep, Geralos himself reportedly raping Leana Castarial, Daemon's sister-in-law and lady of Sae Serina and Calmacedia. Lord Paedric, and his sons Paedron and Paedragh, had sought refuge in the keep also, and Geralos reportedly was preparing to have them killed, when Daemon's forces broke through the Caliendorian vanguard. Daemon himself charged up to the keep and drove his sword deep through Geralos' heart, avenging his sister-in-law and saving his brother and nephews from death. Learning of Geralos' death and the defeat of his preliminary attack into the Heartlands, the Emperor, encamped in Gäladian, rallied all his men for a final assault on Quendrian. They rampaged through the Heartlands, raiding the village of Bull's Bluff. The King summoned all banners and marched from the capital, while Gidyeon Corvyll, son of the King's Inquisitor Gawain Corvyll, lead the banners from the Eldmarche to join with the King. Orros Brandevi and Kierain Mäldrinn marched from Ilyria and Gäladian, respectively. The remaining two and a half thousand Caliendorians, lead by Astrigeth II, clashed with the combined force of Quendrians, still numbering only around one hundred thousand, at Oaken Hill, where the Emperor's ancestors had been repelled time and time again. This battle saw the most bloodiest fighting in the war, and a large majority of both sides were slain. The Emperor once again fought the King in open combat, but Raegon had his revenge for the previous wound in the Battle of Callandir Fields. He slashed the Emperor across his exposed forearm, sustaining him a scar that he bore in the aftermath. Despite the back and forth of momentum, the Emperor, spent from the battle and the loss of majority of his men, surrendered the battle, and the war. He marched back to Caliendor with only a fraction of his armies left, having lost many of his finest generals in the fighting. Aftermath The war achieved little for the Caliendorians. They gained no land, with the exception of Thain's Watch under Baron Guisen's brief command, and angered many of the Quendrian lords for their brutal and heinous actions committed during the war, such as those of Alronn Geralos. The Summer Plague of 1044 had hit midway through the conflict, and claimed many lives during and after the war in both nations, including reportedly the King himself, and Daemon Castarial, the Commander of the King's Sword. Ilayna Thënclos, the mother of Nairhëne Thënclos and a woman the Emperor had romanced in his youth, supposedly died of this plague also. Category: Wars